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GURU NANAK DEV UNIVERSITY, AMRITSAR

(Ph.D. Ordinances)

Ordinances for Ph.D. Registration in the Faculties of Arts & Social Sciences, Languages,

Education, Visual Arts & Performing Arts, Life Sciences, Applied Sciences, Sciences, Humanities &

Religious Studies, Economics & Business, Laws, Agriculture & Forestry, Physical Education, Planning &

Architecture, Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy, Engineering & Technology and other Faculties may

come into existence.

1. Eligibility:

i) Master's degree with atleast 55% marks or equivalent CGPA out of 10 or [50% marks or

equivalent CGPA out of 10, for SC/ST/OBC (non-creamy layer)/differently-abled candidates] of

Guru Nanak Dev university or an equivalent degree of recognized Indian or Foreign University in

the subject concerned or allied-field.

ii) A person whose M.Phil. dissertation has been evaluated and the viva-voce is pending may be

admitted to the Ph.D. programme of the same Institution.

iii) Further that the eligibility of foreign candidates shall be determined on the basis of recognition of

their degrees equivalent to (i)above by Association of Indian Universities, New Delhi.

iv) A candidate who has passed Diploma in Sports Medicine (DSM)/ Diploma in Physical Medicine

and Rehabilitation (DPMR)/ Diploma in Orthopedic (D.Ortho) or equivalent qualification after

passing MBBS degree recognized by the Medical Council of India be allowed for Ph.D.

registration in the Faculty of Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy.

2. Duration of the Programme:

i) A Research Scholar may be eligible for submission of thesis after the expiry of three years

duration including course work from the date of provisional registration. The Research Scholar

shall have to submit the thesis normally within four years of provisional registration.

ii) After four years, the Dean, Academic Affairs may, on the application of the male candidate

recommended by the Supervisor and forwarded by the Head of the department concerned, extend

this period by one year followed by another year. After a period of six years, from the date of

provisional registration, on a request made by the Male candidate, the Vice-Chancellor after

considering the recommendations of the Dean, Academic Affairs may condone further delay in

the submission of thesis up to one year in very special circumstances.

iii) Similarly, after four years, the Dean, Academic Affairs may, on the application of the female and

person with disability (more than 40% disability) candidate recommended by the Supervisor and

forwarded by the Head of the department concerned, extend this period by three years (one by

one). After a period of seven years after the date of provisional registration, on a request made by

the female candidate and person with disability (more than 40% disability), the Vice-Chancellor

after considering the recommendations of the Dean, Academic Affairs may condone further delay

in the submission of thesis up to one year in very special circumstances.

iv) A fee will be charged as prescribed by the university from time to time for each extension in

submission of thesis.

Further that the maximum time limit for submission of thesis after the date of provisional

registration shall be seven years for Male Candidates and eight years for Female Candidates and

person with disability (more than 40% disability), after which no extension shall be granted. If the

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candidate is unable to submit the thesis after the completion of the extended time period, the

registration of the candidate will automatically stand cancelled after he/she has availed the extensions

to be allowed by the Dean, Academic Affairs/Vice-Chancellor for submission of Ph.D. thesis.

In addition, the women candidates may be provided Maternity Leave/Child Care Leave once in

the entire duration of Ph.D. for up to 240 days.

3. Admission:

i) The University shall admit Ph.D. candidates through Ph.D. Eligibility test conducted at the level

of the University. The candidates who have qualified UGC(NET)/ UGC-CSIR (JRF)

examination/SLET/ GATE/INSPIRE/GPAT/ICAR-SRF (PGS)/ Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship

awardees/Maulana Azad National Fellowship/JEST/teacher fellowship holder or have passed

M.Phil. from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and foreign candidates sponsored by ICCR

or any other department of Government of India will be exempted from Ph.D eligibility test.

Applications of other foreign candidates who wish to seek admission directly (without

sponsorship) to Ph.D programme shall be examined by the Board of Control of concerned

department. The BOC shall give its recommendations and issue eligibility certificate for

admission of such foreign candidates to the Ph.D programme without Ph.D eligibility test with

the prior approval of the Vice-Chancellor.

ii) The UGC/CSIR/INSPIRE/Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship awardees Maulana Azad National Fellowship

or candidates who are awarded fellowships directly by their or other funding agencies for the

purpose of pursuing Ph.D. can be provisionally registered any time during the session. NET /

GATE qualified project fellows appointed against financed projects can also be provisionally

registered for Ph.D. any time during the session.

iii) The validity of the Ph.D. Entrance/ Eligibility Test may be fixed as two years and certificate

to the Ph.D. entrance test qualified candidates may be issued by the Director Research.

Merely qualifying the Ph.D. eligibility test will not entitle the candidate for admission to Ph.D.

iv) The number of candidates to be admitted to the Ph.D. programme will be notified by the

University. The number of seats depending upon the number of projects and research facilities

available may vary.

v) While granting admission to the candidates to Ph.D. Programme, the Department will pay due

attention to State Reservation policy. The UGC / CSIR/ JRF/ INSPIRE/ Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship

and other direct fellowship awardees will be admitted irrespective of reservation category. If

required, e.g., for the Ph.D. programme where the number of seats is less than 10, reservation

categories (i) to (x) as given in the prospectus, may be clubbed together or into two or more

groups of categories to arrive at a whole number for making admission. However, any one

category will not have more than one seat at the cost of any other reserved category, if two or

more seats are available by clubbing.

vi) The qualifying marks for Ph.D eligibility test is 55%. The syllabus of the Eligibility Test shall be

based on UGC-NET. The eligible candidates shall appear for an interview to be conducted by the

Board of Control (BOC). At the time of interview, the candidate has to prove that he/she

possesses the competence for the proposed research, the research work can be suitably undertaken

at the Institution and that the proposed area of research can contribute to new/additional

knowledge. Further that if there is no Board of Control (BOC) in the Department, then Director

of Research, Dean of the Faculty, Head of the Department and Senior Most Teacher of the

Department may convene a meeting and concerned candidate of that Department may appear in

the interview for admission to provisional Ph.D. registration.

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vii) The University shall maintain the list of all the Ph.D. registered candidates on its website on year-

wise basis. The list shall include the name of the registered candidate, topic of his/her research,

name of his/her supervisor/co-supervisor, date of Registration.

4 a) Allocation of Research Supervisor:

i) All regular Professors of the University with at least five research publications in refereed

journals and all regular Associate/Assistant Professors of the University with a Ph.D. Degree and

at least two research publications in refereed journals are eligible to be appointed as Supervisors.

Provided that in areas/disciplines where there is no or only a limited number of refereed

journals, the institution may relax the above condition for recognition of a person as a Research

Supervisor with reasons recorded in writing.

ii) Only a full time regular teacher of the University can act as a supervisor. The external supervisors

are not allowed. However, Co-Supervisor can be allowed in inter-disciplinary areas from other

departments of the same institute or from other related institutions with the approval of the Board

of Control/Research Degree Committee (if there is no BOC).

iii) The allocation of Research Supervisor for a selected research scholar shall be decided by the

Board of Control of the Department concerned depending on the number of scholars per Research

Supervisor, the available specialization among the supervisors and research interests of the

scholars as indicated by them at the time of interview/viva-voce.

iv) In case of topics which are of inter-disciplinary nature where the department concerned feels that

the expertise in the department has to be supplemented from outside, the department may appoint

a Research Supervisor from the department itself, who shall be known as the Research

Supervisor, and a Co-Supervisor from outside the Department/Faculty/Institution on such terms

and conditions as may be specified and agreed upon by the consenting Institution.

v) At any point of time, a Professor, an Associate Professor and an Assistant Professor will not

register more than eight, six and four candidates respectively, in the capacity of Supervisor/Co-

Supervisor. For this purpose a candidate whose viva-voce exam is not over, will still be counted

as registered candidate. Further that, those teachers who are sanctioned joint research projects by

UGC/CSIR/DST/ICSSR, or other funding agencies, and are jointly supervising a Ph.D candidate,

will share half the load for each jointly supervised candidate (The joint scholar cannot be more

than Four for Professor, Three for an Associate Professor and Two for an Assistant Professor)

within prescribed quota given as above. Besides, a teacher may be allowed to supervise an

additional number of Ph.D. candidates, not exceeding two for a Professor/Associate Professor,

and one for a Assistant Professor each, to accommodate newly sanctioned projects, additional

number of fellowships awarded by UGC/DST etc. to Departments under their research

programmes, and the direct fellowship awardees and Foreign/ NRI Candidates.

vi) However, if any teacher leaves/resigns the job or leaves for any other reason from this University

at any stage during the period of a candidate doing his/her Ph.D. with his/her Guidance, then the

same candidate will be allotted to a new Supervisor/Co-Supervisor, to complete his/her Ph.D

vice-versa. Further that if the candidate has not spent more than one year with the guidance of

concerned supervisor and that supervisor joins another institution/university, then he/she

(Research Scholar) may be allotted to a New Supervisor for completing his/her research work.

In case the new Supervisor/Co-Supervisor in the concerned department has full quota of

registered candidates, he/she shall be allowed to guide such additional number of Candidates (Not

more than Three for Professor, Two for Associate Professor and one for Assistant Professor) for

this purpose, in addition to the number of candidates already Registered with him/her. Such

cases will be approved by the Vice-Chancellor on the recommendations of the Board of Control.

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vii) In case of relocation of a Ph.D. woman scholar due to marriage or otherwise, the research data

shall be allowed to be transferred to the University to which the scholar intends to relocate

provided all the other conditions in these Regulations are followed in letter and spirit and the

research work does not pertain to the project secured by the parent institution/supervisor from any

funding agency. The scholar will however give due credit to the parent guide and the institution

for the part of research already done.

viii) The candidate who is registered for Ph.D programme of this University and his/her Supervisor

retires from University during the Ph.D. programme, then the same candidate may continue the

research work with his/her guidance.

4 b) Allocation of Research Supervisor from Constituent Colleges to enroll Ph.D. scholars:

The constituent colleges established by the University are a part of the University system and

administered by the University directly. The appointment of the faculty is also done by the university

itself. The teachers who are eligible as per UGC norms and belong to a specialization in which

research facilities/labs have been established in the University, be allowed to enroll Ph.D. scholars as

per the regulations of the UGC subject to the following conditions:-

1. There should be a research department of the speciality in the University which will act as a nodal

research department for such research.

2. The University will provide all laboratory and library support to conduct meaningful research.

3. The Pre-Ph.D. course of scholars so registered will be conducted in the university along with the

other candidates admitted in the main campus.

4. The scholars will have to present their proposals and research before the Research Degree

Committee and Research Degree Board of the University of the concerned speciality.

5. Change of the Supervisor:

i) The supervisor superannuates and is no more an employee of the university even on extension on

regular basis.

ii) The supervisors goes on Extra Ordinary Leave for extended period beyond one year;

iii) The supervisor gets incapacitated and is unable to guide the student;

iv) On the sad demise of the supervisor;

v) In exceptional circumstances, by the speaking orders of the competent authority.

The department will sent a speaking request for change of the supervisor in case of above

mentioned conditions with documentary evidence for competent authority for taking decision in the case

after the recommendation of Board of Control. However, the earlier date of provisional

registration/registration shall stand.

In all other cases, not covered under the above conditions and if the student wishes to change

supervisor, he/she will enroll/register afresh, following the procedure of admission as mentioned in the

UGC regulations of 2016 governing Ph.D.

In case the student has completed the Pre-Ph.D. course in GNDU and cleared the course, the

privilege of foregoing the Pre-Ph.D. course will be considered with the approval of the competent

authority.

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6. Allocation of Co-Supervisor:

The allocation of co-supervisor, in addition, during the Ph.D. provisional registration/ registration

can be made by the Board of Control with valid reasons.

7. Course Work:

A candidate admitted to Ph.D. shall be required to undertake course work for at least 16 credits

and a mandatory Seminar as required for the degree of doctor of philosophy.

The course work shall be treated as prerequisite for Ph.D. preparation. Each Ph.D. candidate will

have to undertake 1 course (4 credits) on Research Methodology in the subject of specialization, which

will include quantitative methods, computer applications, Research Ethics and reviewing of latest

published research work in relevant field, training, field work etc.

In addition, each Ph.D. candidate will be required to undertake courses for at least 12 credits (4

courses of three credits each) with the approval of his/her supervisor. These courses may be offered from

the same department or in an allied field/s in other departments of the university, and that at least one of

these courses should be from outside the Department. The candidate will have to clear courses in the first

two semesters as per the programme of the Department. Direct fellowship awardees or candidates

registered for Ph.D. during the middle of the semester will take up course work in the following semester.

The Ph.D. course work will follow credit based system, the details of which are given in Annexure-I.

Further that, the Ph.D. candidates who have done course work in M.Phil./M.Tech./ LL.M./ M.D/

M.S./ M.Pharma. shall be exempted from course work in Ph.D. to the extent of maximum of seven

credits. A candidate having any other degree which requires a minimum of seven years of education after

Senior Secondary (10+2), even if different from that offered in Ph.D. shall also be exempted from course

work in Ph.D. to the extent of maximum of seven credits however, if a candidate has not done course on

research methodology, he/she will have to clear this course in Ph.D. Furthermore, there is no need to

mention credits of Pre-Ph.D. course work on the “Certificate of Compliance” as the credits of Pre-

Ph.D. course work cannot be uniform in view of exemption to M.Phil. Candidates. Accordingly, the

‘Certificate of Compliance’ may be issued without mentioning the credits for Pre-Ph.D. course

work.

The syllabus for Pre-Ph.D. course work will be drawn by the Board of Control or Research

Degree Committee (if there is no BOC) subject to the approval by the Academic Council.

8. Board of Control and its functions for Provisional Registration:

A candidate who is eligible for admission as a research student for the degree of Ph.D. may, in the

first instance be registered provisionally under the supervision of a supervisor duly recommended by the

Board of Control and approved by the Vice-Chancellor. Further that if there is no Board of Control

(BOC) in the Department, then Director of Research, Dean of the Faculty, Head of the Department and

Senior Most Teacher of the Department may recommend the case for admission to Ph.D. registration

provisionally. The application for registration recommended by the Supervisor and forwarded by the

Head of the Department must include a statement of the area of research, and a tentative outline to review

the research proposal:

i) Summary of the research problem in about 500 words. It should briefly cover tentative outline

research proposal along with tentative topic.

ii) The candidate is required to pay the Registration and Pre-Ph.D Course Work Fee as prescribed by

the university from time to time.

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iii) Self-attested Photo Copies of Matriculation, Bachelor’s Degree, DMCs of Master's and Master’s

Degree.

iv) N.O.C. from the concerned deptt. /institution as prescribed in the registration forms (If the

applicant is employed).

v) After the approval of provisional registration of the candidate for Ph.D. by the Vice-Chancellor,

the date on which the candidate deposits the registration fee, will be considered as the date of

provisional registration.

vi) A candidate will have to submit original certificates to the office immediately for issuance of

provisional registration letter, failing which his/her admission to Ph.D. may be cancelled.

vii) The six monthly progress reports is to be submitted by the Research Scholar duly signed by the

supervisor and forward by the Head of the Department for consideration of the Board of Control

(BOC).

viii) The research candidate will deliver a departmental seminar after two years of his/her provisional

registration, to apprise the teachers and research scholars of the Department of the progress of the

research done by him/her.

ix) The Ph.D. candidate will maintain a complete record of research data and draft of the thesis.

9. Cancellation of Provisional Registration/ Registration :

The Provisional Registration/Registration of the candidate will be cancelled, if he/she:-

i) does not register for course work in the ongoing/immediately following semester (if admitted mid

semester) on his/her admission to Ph.D.

ii) fails to maintain the required CGPA in the course work as per rules.

iii) if the progress of the research scholar is found not satisfactory by the supervisor, the Board of

Control shall record the reasons for the same and suggest corrective measures. If the research

scholar fails to implement these corrective measures, the Board of Control may recommend with

specific reasons for cancellation of the provisional registration/registration of the research

scholar.

iv) does not pay the fee/dues in time.

v) commits to plagiarism or unethical practices in research.

vi) indulges in activities of indiscipline,

vii) absents himself/ herself from the Department without permission of the competent authority.

viii) request by the candidate and his/her application recommended by the supervisor and forwarded

by the Head of the Department.

10. Submission of Synopsis:

After a candidate has made reasonable progress, he/she will be eligible to submit the synopsis

along with prescribed form recommended by the Supervisor and forwarded by the Head of the

Department after one year from the date of provisional registration and within two years from the date of

provisional registration. However, If the candidate fails to submit his/her synopsis within limit period

from the date of provisional registration, the Dean, Academic Affairs may grant extension of six months

for submission of synopsis with a fine as prescribed by the university from time to time as late fee.

Further that the maximum time limit for submission of synopsis after the date of provisional registration

shall be two & half years, after which no extension shall be granted. If the candidate is unable to submit

the synopsis after the completion of the extended time period, the provisional registration of the candidate

will automatically stand cancelled.

The application must be accompanied by a appropriate number of copies of synopsis containing the

following:

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i) For Science and Engineering & Technology related subjects:

The title of the synopsis.

Review of the literature.

Objectives

Work Plan

Result and discussion.

brief summary & future plan

bibliography

ii) For other Subjects:

Title of the synopsis.

Review of the literature.

Objectives

Research Methodology

Proposed Chapter Scheme.

bibliography

iii) The candidate is required to pay the Fee alongwith synopsis as prescribed by the university

from time to time.

11. Research Degree Committee:

a. The constitution of the Research Degree Committee in each subject shall be as follows:-

i) The Dean of the Faculty Concerned - Chairman

ii) The Head of the Department

iii) All Professors and Associate Professors of the Department

iv) In case the number of internal members of RDC is less than five, the Vice-Chancellor may

nominate one or two Professors from allied disciplines from the university.

v) Not more than three experts from the same or allied disciplines from outside the university

may be associated by the Vice-Chancellor on the recommendation by the Board of Control of

the Department concerned.

vi) Two Assistant Professors by rotation in order of seniority provided they hold a Ph.D. Degree.

vii) If not already a member, Supervisor/Co-supervisor will be a special invitee when the case of

his/her candidate is considered.

b. Provided that in the case of a subject in which there is no teaching department of the university,

the RDC shall be constituted by the Vice-Chancellor in consultation with the Dean of the Faculty.

The meeting of the RDC may be fixed with at least 10 to12 days notice to all the members including

applicant. The synopsis of the Research Scholar will be duly considered by the RDC for approval. The

committee may also suggest changes in synopsis and reconsider the modified version. The RDC shall also

send its positive recommendations to the RDB.

12. Research Degree Board (RDB):

a. The constitution of the RDB shall be as follows:-

i) Dean of Academic Affairs – Chairman

ii) Director of Research

iii) All Deans of the Faculties

iv) All Professors of the Departments

v) All Heads of the Departments

vi) Two Associate Professors and two senior most Assistant Professors of the University by

rotation according to seniority, provided that they hold a Ph.D. degree.

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vii) Two members holding Ph.D. degree from the affiliated colleges of the university to be

nominated by the Vice-Chancellor in case a Ph.D. registration of college student is to be

approved.

b. The RDB may also recommend to the competent authority, from time to time, changes and

modification in the existing ordinances.

RDB in its meeting shall approve the RDC recommendations to finalize the registration as well as

approved title of the thesis. After approval of the final title by RDB, the registration letter shall be issued

to the concerned candidate with the approved title. However, the date of registration shall be same as that

of provisional registration letter.

13. Conversion from Full-Time to Part-Time & Vice-versa:

i) If a full-time Ph.D. candidate wishes to join a job or for any other valid reason, he/she will have

to apply for conversion of his/her provisional registration/registration from full-time to part-time

upon recommendation of the supervisor and forwarded by the Head of the Department with the

prior approval of the Dean, Academic Affairs. Further that the candidate may also apply for

conversion of his/ her provisional registration/ registration from Part-time to Full-Time

ii) The fee for conversion of provisional registration/ registration from full-time to part-time will be

as under:

Time after getting relieved Fee

Upto 1 month Rs. 5000/-

After 1 month upto 12 months Rs. 7500/-

After 1 year upto 2 years Rs. 15000/-

After 2 year upto 3 years Rs. 20,000/-

After 3 years Rs. 25000/-

iii) The fee for conversion of provisional registration/ registration from part-time to full-time will be

Rs. 5000/-

14. Evaluation and Assessment methods, minimum standards/credits for awards of the Degree, etc:

i) Upon satisfactory completion of course work, and obtaining the marks/grade as per University

rules, as the case may be, the Ph.D. scholar shall be required to undertake research work and

produce a draft of thesis within a reasonable time, as stipulated by the Institution concerned based

on these Regulations.

ii) The candidate will have to give an open seminar in the department under the Chairmanship of the

Head of the Department concerned, faculty members and other research scholars of the

department. The feedback and comments obtained from them may be suitably incorporated into

the draft thesis in consultation with the Board of Control.

iii) The date for the seminar will be fixed by the supervisor in consultation with the Head of the

Department with information to the Dean, Faculty concerned, with at least one week notice to the

faculty and the candidate; and the presence of supervisor is mandatory at the time of presentation.

After the seminar, the candidate will submit four copies of summary (about 1000 words) to

Examination Branch within three months from the date of Open Seminar provided that the actual

date of submission of the thesis [As per clause 2 (ii) & (iii)] is not over.

If any minor changes & other corrections in the topic at time of Open Seminar is

recommended, these minor changes & other corrections (if any) can be made with the approval of

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the Chairman, Research Degree Board (Dean, Academic Affairs) on the recommendation of

supervisor and Head of the Department.

The Head of the Department in consultation with the supervisor will submit a list of nine

examiners (Professor level), so that the consent of three examiners can be obtained before the

submission of the thesis. However, if a candidate fails to submit his/her thesis within three

months from the date of submission of summary, the Dean Academic Affairs may grant extension

of one month with a fine of Rs. 2500/- and the Vice-Chancellor may grant another extension of

one month with a fine of Rs. 5000/- as a late fee provided that the actual date of submission of the

thesis [As per clause 2 (ii) & (iii)] is not over.

iv) Ph.D scholars must publish at least one research paper in a UGC approved journal and make two

paper presentations in conferences/seminars before the submission of summary of the thesis for

adjudication, and produce evidence for the same in the form of presentation certificates and/or

reprints. In Science, Life Sciences and Engineering & Technology, the publication of the research

paper must be in a journal with impact factor 1.0 or above.

v) A thesis must be based on original research resulting in either a discovery of new facts or a fresh

interpretation of known facts and theories in either case, it should give evidence of the research

candidate's clear understanding of the subject and his/her critical judgment, and it should be well

presented. Edited texts of unpublished manuscripts or critical editions of published texts

accompanied by proper collation and scholarly annotation and critical interpretation may be

considered for the award of the degree of Ph.D. A research candidate may incorporate in his/her

thesis contents of any subject for which no degree other than M. Phil has been awarded by this or

any other university. The Ph.D. thesis in the Faculty of languages be written in the concerned

language ordinarily.

A Research Scholar may submit the CD containing chapter-wise files of thesis in the

office of the Director of Research for further checking of plagiarism from Computer Section of

Bhai Gurdas Library which has latest software for plagiarism checking. While submitting for

evaluation, the thesis shall have an undertaking from the research scholar and a certificate from

the Research Supervisor countersigned by the Director of Research attesting to the originality of

the work, vouching that there is no plagiarism and that the work has not been submitted for the

award of any other Degree/diploma of the same institution where the work was carried out, or to

any other institution.

vi) On completion of the research work the candidate shall submit four copies of Ph.D. thesis in

Compact Size typed in One and a half space in Times New Roman, Font size 12 with double side

printing except for Photographs which can be on one side of the pages together with one CD to

the Examination Branch, (Thesis section) along with examination fee as prescribed by the

university at that time and a certificate from the supervisor, and co-supervisor if any, that the

thesis is fit to be considered for evaluation for award of the degree of Ph.D. The candidate shall

also submit a certificate attested by the supervisor that the thesis is entirely based on his/her own

work, and that all ideas and references have been duly acknowledged.

15. Evaluation of Thesis:

i) The thesis shall be referred to three examiners selected by the Vice-Chancellor from a panel of at

least 9 names of Professor level (six Indian and three foreign examiners in case of candidates

from the faculties of Applied Sciences, Engineering & Technology, Life Sciences, Physical

Planning & Architecture, Sciences, Sports Medicine & Physiotherapy and Department of

Psychology; nine Indian examiners in case of other faculties), in the concerned specialization,

submitted by the Head of the Department in consultation with the supervisor. The panel of Indian

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examiners should be so prepared that the renowned experts in the related field of specialization

are included from all the four zones of the country. This should be applicable in the faculties

where only Indian experts are to be appointed as well as in case where apart from three foreign

experts, the six Indian experts are to be included in the panel. The panel shall be submitted within

one week of the submission of summary of the thesis and shall include the following information

for each examiner:

a) Name

b) Academic Designation and status

c) Postal Address

d) Area of the specialization

e) Phone number/Fax No./e-mail, if possible

ii) In case the panel of examiners is not received from the Head of the department within one week

from the date of submission of the summary of the thesis, the Dean Academic Affairs will

convene a meeting of the Head of the department and the supervisor of the candidate and submit

the panel of examiners.

In case of retired persons, their last designation shall be indicated without which the

panel would be considered incomplete.

iii) Provided that where there is no Head of the department in a subject or Head of the department is

research supervisor of the candidate, the Dean, of the faculty concerned may suggest a panel of

examiners in consultation with the supervisor.

iv) If no consent is received from an examiner within a one month, a new examiner shall be

appointed.

v) Controller of Examinations shall personally open the reports when all the three reports are

received from the examiners. In the absence of Controller of Examinations, Director of Research

or Dean, Academic Affairs will open the evaluation reports.

16. Evaluation Report:

The examiners on evaluation of the thesis may recommend one of the following:

that the degree of Ph.D. be awarded to the candidate

OR

that the thesis be revised as suggested and resubmitted.

OR

that the thesis be rejected.

In each case the examiners shall clearly submit to the University his/her critical evaluation,

comments and suggestions on the Ph.D. thesis. Each examiner shall also send at least five

questions to be asked from the candidate.

17. Negative Report:

i) In case of negative report/revision from any one examiner, the Dean Academic Affairs will

convene the meeting of the Committee consisting of :-

a) Dean Academic Affairs

b) Director of Research

c) Dean of the Faculty concerned

d) Head of Department

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e) Supervisor of the Candidate

The committee will consider the report and give its specific recommendation as to whether:

(i) The thesis has to be revised and re-submitted

OR

(ii) The thesis may be accepted and viva-voce held

After recommendation by the Committee, Dean Academic Affairs will send his/her

recommendation for (i) or (ii) for approval of the Vice-Chancellor.

ii) If two or all examiners reject the thesis then the thesis shall be rejected for award of the Degree.

iii) In case one examiner recommends the award of Degree, the second recommends revision and the

third either rejects or recommends revision, then the candidate shall be advised to re-submit the

thesis after making necessary changes.

The revised thesis must be submitted within one year from the date of intimation of the

revision of thesis to the candidate. The revised thesis shall normally be resubmitted for evaluation

to the same examiner(s) who had recommended revision. If the examiner(s) recommend award of

Degree, then the viva-voce examination may be held. In case the examiner(s) again recommend

revision or rejection, the thesis shall be deemed as rejected.

iv) For evaluation of the thesis not more than two months be given to any examiner. If any examiner

fails to send the report within two months, a new examiner be appointed.

Note: The evaluation process and reports of examiners must be kept confidential.

18. Viva-voce:

i) In case, all the three reports are positive, the case will be put up to the Vice Chancellor for

appointing one of the examiners from India for conduct of viva-voce of the candidate. Viva-voce

of the candidate will be conducted by a committee consisting of the Head of the Department,

supervisor and an examiner of the candidate's thesis.

ii) Video conferencing may be used for conducting viva-voce examination.

iii) The examiner to be appointed for conducting Ph.D. viva-voce examination may be given an

option for physical viva-voce examination or through video-conferencing.

iv) Reports of the thesis evaluated by the examiners will be seen by the Committee constituted by

the Vice-Chancellor at the time of conducting viva-voce.

v) The viva-voce examination of the candidate for the Ph.D. shall be a public viva-voce where all

the members and research fellows in the faculty will be invited to be present. At least four days

notice will be given to the faculty members to attend the viva-voce.

vi) The committee conducting the viva-voce of the candidate will consider the reports of all the

examiners, ask questions raised in these reports and get the clarifications regarding the

comments of the examiners and this fact be mentioned in the viva-voce report.

vii) The Vice-Chancellor may relax the above procedure if, in his opinion, the special circumstances

of the case so demand.

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19. Approval:

i) Along with the reports of the Ph.D., viva-voce of the candidate, the Head of the Department

would send the following certificate duly signed by the Supervisor/ Co-Supervisor and

countersigned by him, that

"All the corrections/revisions if any, suggested by the external examiners have been incorporated

in the thesis."

ii) On the recommendation of the Dean of the Faculty (concerned), Director of Research and Dean,

Academic Affairs, the Vice-Chancellor after his approval will place the report of the examiners

and the reports of the viva-voce examination before the Syndicate for approval of the award of

Ph.D. degree.

iii) If recommended for the award of the Ph.D. Degree, the date of approval of Vice Chancellor will

be considered as the date of award of the Ph.D. degree.

20. Publication of Thesis:

The work reported in an approved Ph.D. thesis may be published during or after the tenure of the

Ph.D. degree.

21. Academic, administrative and infrastructure requirement to be fulfilled by Colleges for getting

recognition for offering Ph.D. programmes:

i) A teacher teaching in a college affiliated to this University and holding Ph.D. degree having at

least two research publications in refereed journals and having a minimum of five years post

graduate teaching/research experience can also be considered for appointment as a Supervisor by

the Board of Control/Research Degree Committee (if there is no BOC), provided the University

has approved the college as a research centre in the subject concerned.

ii) Post-graduate departments of colleges, research laboratories of Government of India/State

Government with at least two Ph.D. qualified teachers/scientists/other academic staff in the

department concerned along with required infrastructure, supporting administrative and research

promotion facilities as given below in paragraph 21(iii) shall be considered eligible to offer Ph.D.

programmes. Colleges should additionally have the necessary recognition by the Institution under

which they operate to offer Ph.D. Programme.

iii) Colleges with adequate facilities for research as mentioned below alone shall offer Ph.D.

programmes:

a) Research centers will not be established in colleges in the subjects relating to science and

technology except Faculty of Agriculture & Forestry.

b) Earmarked library resources including latest books, Indian and International journals, e-

journals, extended working hours for all disciplines, adequate space for research scholars in

the department/library for reading, writing and storing study and research materials.

c) Colleges may also have an access to the required facilities of the neighbouring Institutions/

colleges, or of those Institutions/ Colleges/ R&D laboratories / organizations which have the

required facilities.

iv) College Principal and Assistant Professor will not register more than three and two candidates

respectively.

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v) The Vice Chancellor has to constitute a committee to create a Research Centre and that

committee will visit the colleges to look at the facilities as prescribed in the guidelines by the

University and give its recommendations.

22. Treatment of Ph.D through Full-Time/Part-Time/Distance Mode: There shall be two categories of

candidates admitted to this programme:

i) Full-Time: A person with scholarship/ fellowship /study leave from an organization/ or without

fellowship who is neither employed nor is pursuing any other course of studies and whose

supervisor is working in the jurisdiction of this university.

ii) Part-Time: Any person who opts for Part-Time in the registration form. The part-time

candidates, however, will have to attend Pre-Ph.D. courses regularly as per the programmes of the

respective departments. In case of science subjects the supervisor of the candidate will certify

through Head of the department concerned that the candidate has pursued his/her research for at

least one & half year including Course Work in the concerned department. This period may be

completed either in one stretch or in parts which should not be less than two months at a time.

iii) Distance Mode: The University has not allowed Ph.D. programmes through distance education

mode.

23. Award of Ph.D. Degree prior to Notification of these Regulations, or Degrees awarded by

Foreign Universities:

i) Award of Degrees to candidates registered for the Ph.D programme on or after July 11, 2009 till

the date of Notification of these Regulations shall be governed by the provisions of the UGC

(Minimum Standards and Procedure for Awards of M.Phil./Ph.D Degree) Regulation, 2009

ii) If the M.Phil./Ph.D Degree is awarded by a Foreign University, the University considering such a

Degree shall refer to Equivalence Committee or Association of Indian Universities, New Delhi

for the purpose of determining the equivalence of the Degree awarded by the foreign University.

24. Depository with INFLIBNET:

i) Following the successful completion of the evaluation process and Viva-Voce examination of the

Research Scholar, the Head of the Department concerned will send corrected CD of thesis to the

Main Library of this University before the announcement of the award of the Ph.D. Degree, for

further submission to the INFLIBNET, for hosting the same so as to make it accessible to all

Institution/Colleges.

ii) Prior to the actual award of the Degree, the Degree-awarding Institution shall issue a provisional

Certificate to the effect that the Degree has been awarded in accordance with the provisions of

these UGC Regulation, 2016.

25. Relation with supervisor/co-supervisor:

Provided that no relation of the supervisor/co-supervisor such as wife, husband, son, daughter,

sister, brother, wife's or husband's brother/sister, brother's son and daughter’s/sister's son/daughter, first

cousin, nephew, grand-son, grand-daughter, daughters in law and sons in law can be registered under

his/her supervision.

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Annexure I : Ph.D. Course Work

A candidate admitted to Ph.D. shall be required to undertake course work for at least 16 credits

and a mandatory Seminar as required for the degree of doctor of philosophy. The course work shall

comprise of :

1. Research Methodology in the concerned subject (4 credits): Each Ph.D. candidate will have to

undertake one course (4 credits) on Research Methodology in the subject of specialization, which will

include quantitative methods, computer applications, Research Ethics and reviewing of latest

published research work in relevant field, training, field work etc.

2. In addition, each Ph.D. candidate will be required to undertake courses for at least 12 credits (4

courses of three credits each) with the approval of his/ her supervisor. These courses may be offered

from the same department or in an allied field/s in other departments of the university and that at least

one of these courses should be from outside the Department. The candidate will have to clear courses

in the first two semesters as per the programme of the Department. Further that, the Ph.D. candidates

who have done course work in M.Phil./ M.Tech./ LL.M./ M.D./ M.S./M.Pharma. or any other degree

which requires a minimum of seven years of education after Senior Secondary (10+2), will be

exempted from Pre-Ph.D. course work to the extent of maximum of seven credits. Candidates joining

Ph.D. after these courses will have to clear at least three courses of three credits each, including the

course on Research Methodology, if already not done in M.Phil.

The Ph.D. course work will follow credit based system, the details of which are given below: While

undertaking the course work, the following terms are defined:

‘Course’ means a semester course

‘Credit’ means weightage assigned to a course in terms of contact hours (1 Credit theory= 1 contact hour

per week/ 1 Credit practical or seminar or field work/ thesis = 2 contact hours per week.

‘Grade’ means a letter grade assigned to a candidate on a 10 point scale.

'Grade' point means points assigned to a letter grade.

‘Semester Grade Point Average’ (SGPA) means weighted average of grades in a semester.

m

SGPA = Σ (Gi X Ci)/ Σ Ci

Where Gi are the grade points in the ith course and Ci are the credits registered for the ith course, for all

the ‘m’ number of courses in a particular semester.

Σ (Gi X Ci) = Total grade points obtained by a student in a semester,

Σ Ci = Total credits registered by the student in that semester.

Or

SGPA = [(G1 X C1) + (G2 X C2) + (G3 X C3) + … + (GmX Cm)] / (C1 + C2 + C3 + … + Cm),

‘Cumulative Grade Point Average’ (CGPA) means weighted average of grades in all the semesters, at the

end of any semester or at the end of the course completion.

n

CGPA = Σ (Gi X Ci)/ Σ Ci

= [(G1 X C1) + (G2 X C2) + (G3 X C3) + … + (Gn X Cn)] / (C1 + C2 + C3 + … + Cn),

Where Gi are the grade points in the ith course and Ci are the credits registered for the ith course, for all

the ‘n’ number of courses in all the semesters.

SGPA and CGPA shall be calculated up to two decimal places, after rounding off the third decimal to the

nearest second place integer decimal, hence 0.005 to be increased to 0.01

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The student would be awarded a letter grade on a 10 point scale on the basis of his/her performance.

Grades shall be awarded as per the following table:

Credit Courses (approved vide syndicate 27.05.2019, para no. 7.3)

Percent score in absolute

marking system

Academic performance Grade Points

>90 and ≤ 100 O (Outstanding) 10

>80 and ≤ 90 A+ (Excellent) 9

>70 and ≤ 80 A (Very Good) 8

>60 and ≤ 70 B+ (Good) 7

Equal to 60 B (Average) 6

Below 60 Fail (F) 5

Ab (Absent) 0

A Ph.D. candidate will be required to obtain at least 'B' grade in each course in order to be eligible to

submit the thesis. A candidate getting 'F' grade in anyone of the course will have to opt for another course

in lieu of such a course with the approval of his/her supervisor, and will have to obtain at least 'B' grade in

this course within one year of first taking up of that course, failing which his/her provisional registration/

registration to the Ph.D. programme will be cancelled.

A candidate provisionally registered/ registered for Ph.D. will have to clear the courses within the

first two years of his/her provisional registration, failing which his/her registration to Ph.D. will be

cancelled. If a candidate undertakes courses for more than 16 credits, the SGPA or CGPA will be

calculated on the basis of total number of credits. No division will be awarded in Ph.D. course work. The

back conversion from SGPA/CGPA to Percent score will be multiplication of SGPA or CGPA by a

factor of 10

3. Seminar: Each candidate registered for Ph.D. will have to give one seminar in Ist or IInd semester of

his/her provisional registration.

4. Thesis: A candidate registered for Ph.D. will have to work on the thesis spread over the entire period

of registration of the Ph.D. The grade awarded for thesis work will be 'S' or 'U'. A candidate will start

working on the topic of his/her research right from the date of provisional registration/registration.

5. Audit Courses: In addition to Credit courses, a candidate on the approval of his/her supervisor can

take up audit course/s in any field in his/her department, or any other department or other university

or Institute of higher education/research. The grade awarded for this course will be 'S' or 'U'. A grade

equivalent to 'C' or above will be treated as satisfactory for audit courses. The audit course/s cleared

by a candidate will not be counted towards his/her SGPA/CGPA.

6. Fees: The candidate registered under the UGC regulations (2016) shall pay fee for course work as per

the rules of the university. The candidate who joins Ph.D. after M.Phil./M.Tech./LL.M./M.D./M.S./

M.Pharma. or any other degree which requires a minimum of seven years of education after senior

secondary (10+2) shall be charged half of the tuition fee for first year of their provisional registration.

16

Brief Summary of Ph.D. Rules & Regulations

Sr.

no.

Status

Rules & Regulations for Ph.D.

1. Eligibility Master's degree with atleast 55% marks or equivalent CGPA out of 10

or [50% marks or equivalent CGPA out of 10, for SC/ST/OBC (non-

creamy layer)/differently-abled candidates] of Guru Nanak Dev

university or an equivalent degree of recognized Indian or Foreign

University in the subject concerned or allied-field.

A person whose M.Phil. dissertation has been evaluated and the

viva-voce is pending may be admitted to the Ph.D. programme of the

same Institution.

2. Admission Based on Ph.D. Eligibility test or Qualified UGC(NET)/ UGC-CSIR

(JRF) examination/SLET/ GATE/INSPIRE/GPAT/ICAR-SRF (PGS)/

Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship awardees/Maulana Azad National

Fellowship/JEST/teacher fellowship holder or have passed M.Phil. from

Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

3. Course Work

Course work mandatory, after admission as per rules. A Ph.D.

candidate will be required to obtain at least 'B' grade in each course.

However, a candidate will have to obtain a CGPA of 6 or above, in

order to be eligible to submit the thesis.

4. Synopsis Synopsis may submit from one year and within two years from the date

of provisional registration.

5. RDC The synopsis will be duly considered by the RDC for approval. The

committee may also suggest changes in synopsis and reconsider the

modified version. The RDC shall also send its positive recommendations

to the RDB.

6. RDB RDB in its meeting shall approve the recommendations of RDC for

finalize the registration as well as approved title of the thesis. After

approval of the final title by RDB, the registration letter shall be issue to

the concerned candidate with the approved title. However, the date of

registration shall be same as that of provisional registration letter.

7. Duration of Course i) Normal time limit of thesis submission is four years.

ii) Eligible for submission of thesis after the expiry of three years

including course work from the date of provisional registration.

iii) Three extensions can be taken by the male candidate, after expiry of

the normal time limit. Maximum time limit of seven years (including

extensions) from date of provisional registration.

iv) Maximum four extensions can be taken by the female candidate and

person with disability (more than 40% disability) beyond the normal

time limit. (Total time limit eight years including extensions from

date of provisional registration)

8. Progress Reports The six monthly progress reports is to be submitted by the Research

Scholar duly signed by the Supervisor and forward by the Head of the

Department for consideration of the Board of Control (BOC).

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9. Departmental

seminar

The research candidate will deliver a departmental seminar after two

years of his/her provisional registration, to apprise the teachers and

research scholars of the Department of the progress of the research done

by him/her.

10. Open Seminar Before submission of summary, the candidate will have to give an open

seminar in the department under the Chairmanship of the Head of the

Department concerned, faculty members and other research scholars of

the department.

11. Summary Candidate will submit four copies of summary (about 1000 words) to the

Examination Branch within three months from the date of Open Seminar

provided that the actual date of submission of the thesis is not over.

12. Thesis Candidate will have to submit the thesis within three months from the

date of submission of summary provided that the time limit of

registration is not over.

13. Publication before

submission of thesis

Ph.D scholars must publish at least one research paper in a UGC

approved journal and make two paper presentations in

conferences/seminars before the submission of summary of the thesis for

adjudication, and produce evidence for the same in the form of

presentation certificates and/or reprints. In Science, Life Sciences and

Engineering & Technology, the publication of the research paper must

be in a journal with impact factor 1.0 or above.